Need some help this month? Want to feed your family well without a lot of hassle? Check out these make ahead meals for busy moms. Sweet and Sour Pulled Chicken Sandwiches Whether you teach your kids at home or are running the carpool to school, your days are filled. Having survived the first week of school […]

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Brave Writer Help for High School is one of the new items of homeschool curriculum that we’re using this year. I’m excited for my teen boys to go through this self-paced course. This post is sponsored by Brave Writer. I have been compensated for my time spent writing as well as given sample product. For the […]

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Are you looking for a little instant ease when it comes to kids home for summer vacation? I totally get you. Check out the Summer Survival Guide . It's chock-full of great ideas to organize your summer and enjoy great times with yours kids.

There is so much to do when you are a mom, managing your family and household. One thing that can cause stress and freak MOM out is money, or lack thereof. I know that over the years, it’s been one of the greatest things to prompt me toward anxiety. It seems like it’s a constant battle to stay in the black. Or is it just me?

This weekend, I’ve been catching up on housework, blogs in my reader, filing coupons, and doing a little shopping. Here are some things that I’m taking advantage of to give our family a little margin in the budget.

CouponsThere won’t be any coupons in the paper this weekend, due to the holiday. But, you can browse the new coupons available at Coupons.com. They were reset on the first so there should be a fresh selection.

Also, keep up with Money Saving Mom and Freebies4Mom, they’ve been posting links to some great online coupons. I was able to get a $1 Pillsbury biscuit coupon (thanks F4M!) which got me biscuits for a quarter at my local store this weekend.

SwagbucksWe signed up with Swagbucks several months ago. At first it seemed like we weren’t getting very many. But, once we started to spread the word amongst family and friends, our swagbucks started to add up as we received swagbucks for referrals. It also helped that I made Swagbucks the home page on several computers. When someone wants to look something up, there is Swagbucks staring at them in the face. Currently we’re redeeming our Swagbucks for Amazon gift cards. I’ve purchased a few school supplies that way, but we would like to upgrade our camera, so we’re saving most of them.

From now until the 11th, new members to Swagbucks can earn extra points for using the code fishmamaswag at sign-up. You’ll automatically start with five points, three for signing up and another two for using this code. Use Swagbucks as your search engine and earn more points. Download the Swagbucks toolbar and you can have daily access to special codes to earn more points.

Shopping the SalesOne of the biggest things that helps keep the pantry stocked and our budget in check is to shop the sales, use coupons and stockpile. If you missed my series on these topics, you can catch up. Shopping this way has helped us feed a family of 8 for about $600 a month.

EbatesAwhile back I started using Ebates as a way to get a little change back from online purchases. There are a large number of stores that operate through Ebates, such as Kohls and Target. Sign up for an account and click on the store you want to shop at. Currently, there are back to school specials where you get a larger percentage back from your purchases. Payout doesn’t happen until you reach a certain threshold, but if you’re going to buy something anyway, you might as well order it through Ebates. (Your purchase will be made at the vendor’s site, such as Target.com, but it is tracked through the Ebates portal in order to give you the rebate.)

Comments

So, I signed up for ebates thanks to this post and found a great deal on some shoes I just bought at Kohl's so I ordered them and saved money even with shipping and I'll take the ones I have here and return them back to the store. So, THANKS for talking me into ebates. BUT, having said that, I do have a question. How long does it take for your purchase to show up on ebates? After I made that purchase it doesn't show the 3% promised when I click on MY EBATES. Did I do something wrong? I went through ebate's site to get to Kohls. Or does it just take a few days to show up? Your experience on this would be helpful. =0)

Welcome to Life as MOM! I'm FishMama, chief cook and bottle washer around here. I have six kids under 18, and I've lived to tell the tale. Want to know how to make the most out of what you have where you are? You've come to the right place.

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